1. It's him

ANNA

It only takes a second for your whole world to turn upside down and leave you in a frantic state as to how it all came down to this in the first place.

I swallowed a painful lump in my throat as I stared at the Adonis in front of me. My heart was racing faster than usual and I could barely move an inch from where I stood. 

It couldn't be him, it definitely shouldn't be him, I tried to convince myself even though it seemed as though reality wasn't in agreement with me.

I tried telling myself several times that he wasn't the man I slept with two nights ago.

I adamantly refused to believe he was and the reason was because my elder sister, Alice, had just introduced him to me as her newly wedded husband.

He was staring back at me with a smile on his face, almost as if he didn't know who I was or maybe he did and he just didn't want to show any sign of surprise on his face so as not to make my sister suspicious.

"Hello Anna," he greeted and stretched out his hand for a handshake, taking me by surprise and also causing me to be even more confused.

"It's really nice meeting you. I have heard so many nice things about you from your sister and I've been waiting to meet my wife's precious sister," he spoke casually while grinning at me.

It didn't help at all as it only made me remember that night. He was smiling at me the exact same way he had smiled at me when we met two nights ago.

I couldn't help but wonder if he had a twin because he wasn't looking worried or surprised at all. I mentally shook my head, refusing to have any doubts because he looked just like Alejandro, the man I had slept with just two nights ago.

The fact that his voice sounded exactly the same was just another confirmation that I wasn't crazy and that he was exactly who I thought he was. 

"It's...nice meeting you," I stuttered, still struggling to swallow the lump in my throat.

"A handshake perhaps?" he asked, indirectly reminding me of his stretched hands that I refused to take in mine because I could feel my hands shaking. 

My eyes met with Alice for a brief second and I knew I couldn't ignore the stretched hands of her husband anymore. 

I shook his hands and a jolt of electricity ran down my spine almost immediately. I immediately took my hand from him and looked away as a feeling of guilt washed over me.

I bit my bottom lips, trying to ignore all the mixed feelings I felt at the same time. My heart was pounding in my chest and the knots in my stomach tightened.

"It's nice meeting you too Sir," I finally responded, avoiding eye contact with him as I felt tears slowly form in my eyes.

At that moment, everything around me suddenly went very quiet and I could only see my sister's mouth moving and I could tell she was saying something but I couldn't catch a word that she said cause I had suddenly gone numb with confusion. 

The memories from two nights ago resurfaced in my head and the more I recalled them, the more hurt I was. 

"Anna," 

I snapped out of my thoughts when I heard my sister call out my name.

"Yes," I answered, shaking the thoughts off my shoulder.

"What were you thinking? Why do you seem so lost?" she asked with the skin between her brows creased in confusion and I knew she could tell something was bothering me since she could literally read me like a book.

Alice and I were five years apart in terms of age and I was glad because she helped me quite a lot while growing up and she literally guided and protected me. 

She and I were complete opposites of each other and most times, I couldn't help but envy her personality.

Alice is the extroverted one, the one with the outgoing personality and the friendly one who just knew how to pull people to her whilst I'm the more introverted one, the quiet one and the one that seemed unfriendly. 

She grew up being loved and could relate with a lot of people easily while I, on the other hand, would rather be on my own and I didn't like it when my privacy was invaded.

"It's nothing sis. Don't bother yourself," I lied.

She didn't believe what I said and I knew that from the questioning expression she gave me. I looked away, not wanting her to read me any further and figure out that I'm uncomfortable.

"Babe,"

I heard Alejandro call Alice and she smiled at him as soon as he did before turning back to face me. 

"Sweetie, you and I are not done with our talk just yet. Whatever it is that's going on with you, we'll definitely talk about it later," she said to me before walking away to meet him. 

My chest tightened as I watched how he pulled her towards him and rained kisses on her face.

I couldn't hear what they were saying but I knew he was probably whispering sweet words to her and it made my heart ache even more and I know it sounded weird, but I couldn't help how I felt. 

I didn't want to feel this way. I didn't want to be affected by whatever it was that was going on between them but I just couldn't help it. Not when memories of what happened between us two nights ago kept tormenting me.

"Anna sweetie,"

I snapped back to reality when I heard my name being called by my sister. 

I took in a deep breath and exhaled before walking closer to her.

"It's time for dinner. Come on, let's go," she said.

Alejandro placed his hands gently on her waist as they walked towards the dining table with wide smiles on their faces and I followed behind them, staring at the floor as I didn't want to see him or any part of him at all. 

I hated how I felt right at that moment and how affected I was by him and worse, I hated the fact that I had unfortunately slept with my sister's husband.

I hated myself because I really wished I had just asked her for his pictures before it all happened and at least gotten to know him and know how he looked so I wouldn't have gotten myself into this mess. I also hated myself because of the fact that I had felt connected with my sister's husband that night, not knowing that I was betraying my very own sister. 

I hated it so much that I wanted to cry. I felt tears threatening to stream down my face as my eyes started to blur due to the tears that had formed in them.

"Babe, I hope you don't mind but I had them prepare Anna's favourite meals because it's been so long since I last saw her and I wanted to please her and make sure that she felt very welcomed here. I'm so everything is still so awkward and unfamiliar to her and I want her to feel at ease," Alice explained to her husband, who didn't seem like he had even noticed. 

"Don't be silly babe! Of course, it's not a problem at all," he replied and she offered him a satisfied smile.

We all settled at the table, said our prayers, and began to eat in silence.

"So Anna," I hear Alejandro clear his throat as he calls out my name all of a sudden.

"Alice told me you are in your junior year in college and you both haven't seen each other in almost three years now. Why is that though? What happened? You even missed our wedding. Is there a reason?" he asked suddenly, taking me by surprise because I definitely wasn't expecting him to talk to me at all. 

 I clenched the fork in my hand tightly as a disgusted feeling overwhelmed me. I find it so unbelievable that he's actually trying to start up a conversation with me and being so casual and normal with me like he wasn't all over me just two days ago even though he was newly wedded. 

I just didn't understand how he was playing it cool and how he did not seem affected or bothered at all. It was actually scary and disgusting because any person in their right mind would probably be shaking in their boots just in case the sister-in-law decided to open her mouth but here he was, looking completely unfazed. 

I couldn't even think straight right now because of how guilty and irresponsible I felt and I could barely look into my sister's eyes without feeling like a terrible human being.

So how was he doing it? Why in the world did he look so nonchalant? I thought to myself, still in awe of him.